Folks looking to branch out in the world of podcast apps may want to check out Downcast for iOS and Mac. The two apps are considered by many to be best in their respective categories, and for a limited time, both of them are available at discounts of up to 50%.

The iPhone client, for those who haven’t used it, is about as sharp as they come. It’s packed with innovative features like gesture-based playback controls, and looks great thanks to its recent iOS 7 refresh. And the Mac version of the app is equally impressive…

Picked up the Mac version. Sweet program on IOS, been a user for a few years now.

JoshuaHulgan

Pocket Casts all the way.

svartkuken

Instacast is way better, both the iOS and Mac version.

Damian

I disagree, but it is still a great program

iPhone Gruru

I have never used instacast,but the reviews for it look awful

Damian

It is very good on Mac and it syncs with your ios app too. It is almost identical to Downcast

svartkuken

I first found Downcast and was pretty satisfied but when Instacast went free for a limited time i switched to it immediately. Since I listen 50/50 on my iPhone and MacBook the syncing MUST work properly, and with Downcast it didn’t. But that might have changed.

madmaxmedia

How are the catalogs of these 3rd party apps? I’d like to move to Downcast perhaps, but like browsing for new podcasts through the Apple apps. I’m guessing the 3rd party apps don’t have as extensive a selection.

mrgerbik

downcast has tons in its list but you can just enter any podcast manually if its not in there

I highly recommend downcast

Damian

when it comes to mac apps, there are two options: Downcast $5 or Instacast $20. The choice here is obvious. Plus Downcast just seems to be superior at the moment, because it allows to do a bit more.